The Prestige: Movie Review

I really enjoyed this movie although the people I went with did not. It was basically a tale of two magicians that hated each others guts so badly that they would go to any length to destroy one another. It was a great morality play and was well acted, staged and directed. Lots of great costumes and sets too to make you feel like you were actually seeing something happening in the late 19th early 20th century.

In many ways it was a truely Victorian story which had many rivalries in which one man tried to destroy another at any cost. In this movie we see Edison vs. Tesla (who was played by David Bowie) which was a real life rivalry that kind of mirrored the one between the characters played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. All morality and restraint is thrown out the window in their quest for revenge. Even when they get their revenge it still seems kind of hollow since they get a sense that they wasted their life getting back at their rival and they have nothing to show for it.

This movie also had one of the best plot twists that I have seen in years. I won't give it away but it is the kind of thing that bewilders you and leaves you with the feeling that you don't know what will happen next. I was on the edge of my seat at the end of the movie and that is kind of a rare feeling in movies nowadays.

This movie also had a pretty cool machine cooked up by Tesla that enabled someone to supposedly teleport from one place to another through some kind of powerful current. The machine even had a kind of Lovecraftian twist because instead of the machine transporting the person it would actually make a double of them. This harkens me back to the Philidelphia Experiment which was supposed to be influenced by Teslas work. This machine was a really nice way of putting forth the theme that real magic and science were one and the same during the Victorian period.

The acting was superb all the way around with Hugh Jackman mostly stealing the show. He was excellent in the role and he made you feel bad for his character even though he does quite alot of underhanded stuff. Even Bales character was not thoroughly unlikeable but I guess you can consider him the villian of the movie. The sad part is that much of what they do seemed to be very real reactions and not a stretch as the plot unfolded. I mean Bale did kill his wife even though it was an accident and Jackman did blow off Bales fingers trying to kill him.

I felt Scarlett Johansson could have been in the movie more but I guess she was just supposed to be a supporting actor and not one of the main stars. She played a mainly airheaded magicians assistant that is a pawn in the game between Bale and Jackman. Michael Caine played the only character that was likeable throughout. He did a great job of playing a grizzled vet that wants one more shot at the big time and latched onto Jackman to do it.

All and all it was a great movie that will probably go into my permanent DVD collection. If you like well acted period pieces that had great plot twists then this movie is for you.